What is Happening to My Body?

If you have been following my posting and blogs, I am very passionate about educating and strengthening the body through perimenopause and menopause. I am finding so many women, including myself, have no education on what is happening inside their bodies during perimenopause and menopause. They have no idea that their body is sending them signals for help and wonder how she got to be so weak and frail and tired. So irritable, forgetful and growing hair in strange places. Your body is talking to you, lets learn how to listen and support our bodies for a graceful, beautiful life as we age.

So we already talked about the long list of symptoms that occur starting for some in their early 40's. A lot of the research I am finding involves hormone therapy, so you will read alot about that. But there is more to support and management than hormones that we will talk about which includes exercise, homeopathy, energy work, acupuncture, herbs and nutritional support. Hormones can be a magic bullet, but they aren't the sole option to healing our bodies. For disclaimer: yes I am well aware of the need to discuss risks with your doctor. I have a family history of breast cancer and osteoporosis.

Since the terrible study by the World Health Institute (WHI) in 2002 that stated that hormones (especially estrogen) cause breast cancer and heart disease, doctors have stopped using or allowing hormone replacement therapy in women until a few years ago when the huge flaws in the study were pointed out as well as the use of synthetic hormones, which are totally different in action from bio identical hormones. Before that study, hormones were widely prescribed. But for 20 years, no medical school taught about hormones or much even about menopause to doctors. We now are blessed with a generation of medical doctors uneducated and uncomfortable with hormone therapy. Many will tell you that there are not enough quality randomized clinical trials to recommend hormone therapy. My primary care doctor said I had to provide her PubMed articles before she would discuss it with me. Crazy. Unfortunately there is a large group of Boomer generation women who have missed out on the optimal window for hormone therapy (between ages 50-60). Hormones do still help after that window, but it is less effective as a lot of damage has already occurred.

Here are some statistics: As of 2023, less than 2% of women over forty used hormone therapy. Women comprise 51% of the population in the United States, yet only 4.5% of all medical research dollars are spent on them. (hormones are inexpensive and would be a big loss to big pharma and their drugs marketed towards heart disease and breast cancer and anti depressants that are hugely marketed for women in menopause). With the research that is being conducted and still on going, it is indicating that hormone therapy can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by up to 50%! (but that needs to be started within 10 years of menopause or it no longer helps). Hormone therapy appears to help decrease lipid levels and insulin resistance and improve glucose metabolism. Women who use hormone therapy have lower levels of metabolically harmful visceral fat and estradiol is a powerful neuroprotective hormone contributing to better cognitive function.

Research is showing that when hormone therapy is started around the onset of menopause, there is a reduction in overall mortality rates by 30%. It also is showing amazing results in treating musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause for post menopausal women. The research is exciting but slow due to lack of funding and education. I am seeing more and more female scientists and doctors making the rounds in podcasts, social media and mainstream media (and books) getting the word out and demanding that we increase research and education of all women on how to support their bodies during this major transition. Unfortunately, when a topic becomes more popular so do the pseudo scientists with the amazing cures. Since I am doing research on menopause my social media feed is full of "Found the magic foods to remove your menopausal fat in 10 days" ... and so on. Lots of crazies out there.

Some Literature I have loved that you may be interested in are:

Unbreakable: A Woman's Guide to Aging with Power. by Vonda Wright

The Menopause Moment: Mindset, Hormones and Science for Optimal

Longevity. by Kelly Casperson

Womens Bodies, Women's Wisdom. by Christiane Northrup

Postulations have been made that since women are now living longer ( I think the average life expectancy for women is in their mid eighties compared to 50's and 60's in decades prior) our bodies are showing the devastation of living so long without hormones in balance.

I made myself educated when I turned 62 when my body felt like it was absolutely falling apart for no understandable reason. Like so many women, I knew about the vasomotor symptoms of menopause, but little else (night sweats and hot flashes). They lasted for a few years for me and then I thought I was free. Then I had insomnia - bad. I could not stay asleep and was up most nights from 3-5 am. Drove me nuts. No doctor ever mentioned this as a symptom of menopause, they just handed me sleeping pills. Then the huge rise in blood pressure (176/101 at its worst) and panic attacks that landed me in the ER twice. Little did I know that quietly inside, my body was breaking down cartilage and bone in my spine and shoulders, creating havoc in my brain and nervous system and leaving my cardiovascular system to struggle. What frustrates me to anger sometimes is that all of these were signs of menopause and low hormones. With low doses of hormones, exercise (different than what we did earlier in our lives) and nutritional support, this could have been stopped in its tracks and I wouldn't have my struggles and damage today, which includes osteoarthritis, osteophytes, venous insufficiency and brain fog with symptoms of ADD.

So now, let's talk about the mechanics behind why these symptoms show up (next weeks post) and how we can treat them and hopefully, stop the damage in its tracks (the following weeks posts). Help is coming, but it took a lot of years and asking questions and not accepting the answers, researching and asking more questions to get the help I have. It feels so hopeless sometimes. My aim is to educate so the hopelessness and depression doesn't hit you. That you know there are many options and that you need to keep pushing and educating your doctors and/or trying other doctors.

Let's start with some ways Hormones help.

One major impact of menopause is weight gain due to change in body composition. We lose lean body mas (bone and muscle) and gain adipose tissue (inflammatory tissue). If you have not change any of your habits but are noticing wight gain and body change, you are correct. Estrogen deficiency has a significant effect on carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, but estrogen is never prescribed for weight gain, but it will help with cell metabolism and maintaining healthy lean body mass. Exercise is critical as we age, and we generally are not talking workouts at the gym for an hour or more a day. We are talking exercise that gets the heart rate up, that puts weight and pressure on our bones (weight lifting and steps) and fast walking. Short bursts of high intensity exercises work best at this age. It is important we are vigilant and consistent with our exercise. I make sure I stretch and do some yoga and then walk 40 minutes every day (I try to only skip one day a week, if necessary). Every week I try to walk further in that same 40 minutes. I have skeletal complications, but my functional chiropractor taught me how to properly lift weights (like 30-100 pounds) and step on and off a high box, then progress to jumps on and off the box and pushing and pulling a sled of weights and of course, stretches and cardiovascular workout (bike, walk, etc). Just 30 minutes a day was enough.

Some of the resources listed above go into detail on optimal exercises and stretches for women in menopause. We have to maintain our bone strength, lean muscle mass and flexibility. We don't need to push ourselves like we did in our younger years.

Nutrition is also becoming even more vital in our menopausal years. Be wise in what calories you choose to consume. There are lots of diets out there people recommend. You find what works for your body type. Personally, I don't like prescribed "diets". It makes me angry and I feel so restricted and controlled. It messes with my mental health. I choose to consume clean foods, locally grown or preserved, much I do myself. I purchase clean meats from producers around me. I limit myself to 1300 calories a day (while trying to loose the weight) and so I don't have room for junk food. I try to have one larger meal a day and I choose a high protein diet with greens and colorful foods. That is what works for me. I hear lots of success with the Mediterranean diet as well. You find what works for you, just know that we don't detox as well now and so we have to be even more selective in what foods and their quality that we put into our bodies.

Lastly, with weight gain in perimenopause and menopause, you will want to pay attention to the quality of your digestive system. It really takes a hit as hormones decline (think of estrogen as the lubricant in our body). Diagnosis of Leaky Gut Syndrome is higher in this population. Your digestive enzymes are lower and things can just slow down. Support your GI with good herbal teas, eating whole foods which will have the fiber and nutrients for support and do a good detox to help. This sluggish digestive system can also contribute to your weight gain and bloating and discomfort. Contact me if you want information on great herbs to help the GI system.

So keep up the hope and I'll see ya next week.